Heritage

Heritage Conservation encompasses two components: natural and cultural heritage. Natural heritage includes preserving and celebrating the ecosystems and biodiversity of a community, while cultural heritage includes the preservation and commemoration of buildings, memorials, and special events.

Millet in Bloom excels at Heritage Conservation. Awards we have won in this category include: an international category win for Integration of Historical Artifacts & Landscaping in 2000; the overall 2001 National Championship for our School Bell Kiosk Garden; the 2006 Provincial and 2007 National titles for Heritage Conservation; the 2008 National Heritage Conservation Criteria Award for our Heritage Murals; a 2009 National Heritage Conservation win for the Millet Museum Archives, and Special Achievement award for Heritage Conservation in 2014 and 2019. 

Our many heritage beds include our Burns Creamery Garden, Farm Implement Beds, and nationally-recognized School Bell Kiosk. These displays commemorate Millet's origins and legacy as an agricultural community. More recent celebrations of our heritage have culminated in our Canada 150 bed on 45 Avenue and our 20th Anniversary Wagon Wheel Bed at Pipestone Creek park, which was built to commemorate 20 years of Millet in Bloom. These garden beds celebrate our past, enrich our present, and preserve our memories for the future.

The 2020 Native Plants project seeks to preserve our natural heritage by drawing attention to the importance of Alberta’s natural flora. Between 2019 and 2020, Millet & District Museum staff catalogued, photographed, and researched the native plants of Millet, including both their role in the environment and their uses in traditional Indigenous knowledge systems.

Millet in Bloom's many heritage based projects connect the present community to the community of the past by preserving the location, plants, culture, and memory of events of the past.